Bat2Web: A Framework for Real-Time Classification of Bat Species Echolocation Signals Using Audio Sensor Data.

Bats play a pivotal role in maintaining ecological balance, and studying their behaviors offers vital insights into environmental health and aids in conservation efforts. Determining the presence of various bat species in an environment is essential for many bat studies. Specialized audio sensors can be used to record bat echolocation calls that can then be used to identify bat species. However, the complexity of bat calls presents a significant challenge, necessitating expert analysis and extensive time for accurate interpretation. Recent advances in neural networks can help identify bat species automatically from their echolocation calls. Such neural networks can be integrated into a complete end-to-end system that leverages recent internet of things (IoT) technologies with long-range, low-powered communication protocols to implement automated acoustical monitoring. This paper presents the design and implementation of such a system that uses a tiny neural network for interpreting sensor data derived from bat echolocation signals. A highly compact convolutional neural network (CNN) model was developed that demonstrated excellent performance in bat species identification, achieving an F1-score of 0.9578 and an accuracy rate of 97.5%. The neural network was deployed, and its performance was evaluated on various alternative edge devices, including the NVIDIA Jetson Nano and Google Coral.

Diagnostic Evaluation of Skin Adnexal Tumors by Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of skin adnexal tumors is usually based on histopathology. However, fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) can be of great help and shows a high degree of correlation to the final diagnosis. It is helpful in many situations where skin lesions are a manifestation of certain systemic syndromes and aids to the formation of precise treatment plans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study was carried out to assess the diagnosis of skin adnexal tumors based on FNAC and their comparison with histopathological diagnoses. There were 14 patients with FNAC and histopathological follow-up in whom a final diagnosis of skin adnexal tumor was made. The results of FNAC were compared with histopathological diagnoses for complete correlation, partial correlation (cases where an FNAC diagnosis of skin adnexal tumor was made but a precise diagnosis of the subtype was not possible) or no correlation (where FNAC failed to diagnose a skin adnexal tumor). RESULTS: Among the 14 cases of skin adnexal tumor, there was total correlation between the FNAC diagnosis and final histopathological diagnosis in 8 cases (57.1%) and a partial correlation in 4 cases (28.5%). There was no correlation of the FNAC diagnosis with the histopathological diagnosis in only 2 cases (14.3%). CONCLUSIONS: FNAC is very useful in making a diagnosis of skin adnexal tumors and helps in the management of the patient.

Errors, limitations, and pitfalls in the diagnosis of central and peripheral nervous system lesions in intraoperative cytology and frozen sections.

CONTEXT: Intraoperative cytology and frozen section play an important role in the diagnosis of neurosurgical specimens. There are limitations in both these procedures but understanding the errors and pitfalls may help in increasing the diagnostic yield. AIMS: To find the diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative cytology and frozen section for central and peripheral nervous system (PNS) lesions and analyze the errors, pitfalls, and limitations in these procedures. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Eighty cases were included in this prospective study in a span of 1.5 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The crush preparations and the frozen sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin method. The diagnosis of crush smears and the frozen sections were compared with the diagnosis in the paraffin section, which was considered as the gold standard. STATISTICAL ANALYSES USED: Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: The diagnostic accuracy of crush smears was 91.25% with a sensitivity of 95.5% and specificity of 100%. In the frozen sections, the overall diagnostic accuracy was 95%, sensitivity was 96.8%, and specificity was 100%. The categories of pitfalls noted in this study were categorization of spindle cell lesions, differentiation of oligodendroglioma from astrocytoma in frozen sections, differentiation of coagulative tumor necrosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) from the caseous necrosis of tuberculosis, grading of gliomas in frozen section, and differentiation of the normal granular cells of the cerebellum from the lymphocytes in cytological smears. CONCLUSIONS: Crush smear and frozen section are complimentary procedures. When both are used together, the diagnostic yield is substantially increased.

Calvarial tuberculosis presenting as cystic lesion: An unusual presentation in two patients.

Tuberculosis is a common disease in developing countries such as India, posing a major public health problem. With human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection being a global endemic, there has been a resurgence of tuberculosis even in developed countries. Tuberculosis may affect almost any part of the body. However, tuberculosis of the calvarium is very rare. Presentation of tuberculosis as a soft tissue swelling on the scalp poses a diagnostic problem. These two cases are being reported here to convey the utility of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in providing the confirmatory diagnosis obviating the need for invasive surgical procedure.

Cytopathological Pattern of Tubercular Lymphadenopathy on FNAC: Analysis of 550 Consecutive Cases.

BACKGROUND: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of lymph nodes is a simple, cost effective, out-patient procedure used for diagnosis of various causes of lymphadenopathies. In tuberculous lymphadenitis, it not only used for the cytological diagnosis but also used for other ancillary testing such as Ziehl- Neelsen staining and AFB Culture. AIMS: Our study was designed to evaluate the cytopathological pattern of FNAC aspirate of patients presenting with lymphadenopathy with special reference to tuberculous lymphadenopathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study all the patients referred to the cytopathology lab for FNAC of lymph nodes between January 2011 to June, 2013 were included. Out of 1050 patients presenting with lymphadenopathies, there were 550 cases of tuberculous lymphadenitis. The cytopathological findings of these 550 cases were analyzed. RESULTS: A female preponderance was noted in our study with maximum incidence in the 3rd decade. Cervical lymph nodes were the most common nodes to be involved. Gross examination of aspirate showed maximum cases (74.5.2%) of whitish material. Among the four cytological patterns on FNAC, maximum cases demonstrated caseous necrotic material with degenerated inflammatory cells. Ziehl- Neelsen staining showed overall AFB positivity of 44.54%. Maximum AFB positivity was seen in cases having caseous necrosis only. CONCLUSION: FNAC is a simple, cost effective technique with high degree of accuracy in diagnosing Tubercular Lymphadenitis. Despite certain limitations and pitfalls, FNAC coupled with Ziehl- Neelson staining should be the 1st line investigation in cases with lymphadenopaty, in a developing country with high prevalence rate of tuberculosis.

Isolated cysticercosis of tongue: a case report.

Cysticercosis of the tongue is a rare disease caused by infestation with the larval stage of the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) in which man acts as a secondary host rather than a primary host. Most of these lesions are asymptomatic. The patient usually reports to the physician with the complaint of swelling. The solitary swelling in the tongue of this young 12-year-old girl was not suspected clinically for cysticercosis. Fine needle aspiration cytology, used for pre-operative diagnosis, suggested the possibility of cysticercosis. Detailed medical evaluation was carried out which ruled out neural cysticercosis and other extraneural lesions. The complete removal of the lesion was achieved by simple excision. The histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of lingual cysticercosis.

Incidental Diagnosis of Filariasis in Superficial Location by FNAC: A Retrospective Study of 10 Years.

BACKGROUND: Filariasis, transmitted by the bite of various species of mosquito, is a common disease of tropical belt of the world. In South East Asia, including India, it is a major public health problem. The parasite is primarily confined to Lymphatic channel or lymph nodes where it can remain viable for more than two decades. The most common presentation of the disease is asymptomatic/ subclinical microfilaremia, Hydrocele, acute adeno-lymphangitis (ADL) and chronic lymphatic disease. However, the disease may rarely present as superficial swellings at unusual sites. Incidental findings of microfilaria on fine needle aspiration cytology in these situations, helps in prompt recognition of the disease. AIM: The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the incidental diagnosis of Filariasis on fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), done for swellings in superficial locations over last ten years at our institute. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted over a period of 10 years from April 2003 to March 2013 on the cases where FNAC was carried out on swellings in superficial locations of the body. Twenty cases of filariasis were diagnosed on routine FNAC material obtained from various superficial sites. Their data was retrieved and analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 20 cases diagnosed as filariasis on FNAC, six cases involved lymph nodes, six involved testiculo-scrotal region, three cases of thyroid swelling, soft tissue swelling in three cases and breast lump in two cases. On FNA smears, microfilariae were seen in all 20 cases, eggs in three cases, adult female worm in two cases and adult male worm in one case. Adherence of inflammatory cells and macrophages to microfilariae was noticed in 4 cases. Eosinophilia was present in seven cases. Microfilaremia was present in only three cases. Causative agent was Wuchereria bancrofti in all cases. CONCLUSION: Although not so common, filariasis should be considered as one of the differential diagnosis of a superficial swelling particularly if clear fluid is obtained on FNAC. Careful screening of smears plays a significant role in recognition of the disease even in asymptomatic patients.

Value-added oil and animal feed production from corn-ethanol stillage using the oleaginous fungus Mucor circinelloides.

This study highlights the potential of oleaginous fungus, Mucor circinelloides in adsorbing/assimilating oil and nutrients in thin stillage (TS), and producing lipid and protein-rich fungal biomass. Fungal cultivation on TS for 2 days in a 6-L airlift bioreactor, resulted in a 92% increase in oil yield from TS, and 20 g/L of fungal biomass (dry) with a lipid content of 46% (g of oil per 100g dry biomass). Reduction in suspended solids and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in TS were 95% and 89%, respectively. The polyunsaturated fatty acids in fungal oil were 52% of total lipids. Fungal cells grown on Yeast Malt (YM) broth had a higher concentration of γ-linolenic acid (17 wt.%) than those grown on TS (1.4 wt.%). Supplementing TS with crude glycerol (10%, v/v) during the stationary growth phase led to a further 32% increase (from 46% to 61%) in cellular oil content.

Ependymoblastoma in an adult: a diagnostic challenge on cytology.

Ependymoblastoma is a rare, highly malignant brain tumour considered by most to be a subtype of primitive neuroectodermal tumour manifesting in young children. The authors present an unusual case of ependymoblastoma occurring in an 18-year-old female, one of the oldest patients reported with this tumour. The crush smears were highly cellular comprising singly scattered small, round immature cells with fine granular chromatin. The paraffin sections showed a tumour composed of uniform, small-sized, primitive cells forming well defined multi-layered rosettes with prominent mitoses. The tumour cells exhibited diffuse Vimentin and focal glial fibrillary acidic protein reactivity. A few cells showed S-100 reactivity. The patient underwent radiotherapy following complete tumour debulking but, succumbed to the disease within 2 months of diagnosis.